Smithsonian Open Access: Open Educational Images (and a little bit about copyright)

Have you ever desperately needed the 3-D printed hands of Abraham Lincoln or a mammoth skeleton, but just couldn't find the right file?

Good news, everyone-- the Smithsonian has released over 2.8 million images (high resolution, 2- and 3-D) from across its 19 museums and institutions into the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, meaning they are available for anyone to "copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission." 

What does  a CC0 license have to do with Open Education Week? 

Joining other cultural institutions that have already provided high resolution images of their collection under a CC0 license, the Smithsonian is allowing a more equal access to these resources. Individuals are able to engage with them under the 5 Rs: Reuse, Revise, Remix, Redistribute, Retain. Instructors can bring these resources into their instruction without worrying about copyright issues and students can use them for projects, including remixes (still give credit-- it's good form!). 

What do you mean, "without worrying about copyright"?

Copyright is a limited right to control how other people can use your creative work, whether you wrote a paper, painted a picture, recorded a song, etc. U.S. copyright law governs specifically what other people can do with your creative works.

If you are an instructor or a student, copyright becomes important when you are "other people"; that is, copyright restricts what you're allowed to do with a work you didn't create. Fortunately, "fair use" lets educators have more rights in using copyrighted works than non-educators have. (See the library's Copyright Guidelines Research Guide for more information about fair use.)

What makes the Smithsonian's image collection special is the CC0 license. A CC0 license replaces copyright. It means that you are free to do whatever you want to with the images.